Whoever Wins The White House, We’ll Be Tired

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Everyone over a certain age remembers at least some of the strains, tragedies and transitions of national life in the 1990s: The first Baby Boomer president; the first feminist First Lady; the eruption of the digital age; the federal siege against a Waco encampment that killed 75 cult members and their leader; the suicide of White House counsel Vince Foster, a longtime Clinton family friend; the affairs and lawsuits and investigations –Whitewater, Travelgate, Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, Monica Lewinsky, Kenneth Starr, impeachment.

Look it up, kids. Some of it was fake or unproven or hyperpartisan, but some of it was real. Clinton fatigue cannot be dismissed as exaggerated political hypochondria.

Yet it would be unfair to count that as a mark against Hillary Clinton as she bids to put another Clinton in the White House. Every exhausting presidency is exhausting in its own way, as Leo Tolstoy would have put it. And make no mistake, most presidencies are exhausting, or would be if they were happening now.

Some presidents get themselves into trouble and some are confronted with trouble. Some trigger agitation just by being who they are — their generation, their race, maybe their gender. We no doubt notice it more now because of the Internet, social media and cable TV. Countless historic episodes would have consumed the public and “broken Twitter,” had it existed:

That last is a real headline from the Drudge Report. You can imagine the impact of this and many other moments large and small — Selma! Watergate! Vietnam! The Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction! — in today’s media environment. The George W. Bush presidency was exhausting enough just on cable, from the deadlocked 2000 election to the 9/11 attacks, the Iraq War and the financial collapse.

The Obama presidency has been exhausting as well, with its economic challenges, racial tensions and the demands of a destabilized world on edge over terrorism. The next president will face some of the same problems and could ratchet up the fatigue factor with more interventions around the globe. If it’s former Florida governor Jeb Bush, add Bush family fatigue to list — particularly if he uses his brother’s foreign policy as his template. Many of the Republican candidates-in-waiting are, in fact, talking about the potential need for U.S. “boots on the ground” in the Middle East — a surefire path to an exhausting presidency.

For whoever wins, add polarization amplified and escalated by niche media. Stanford psychiatry professor Keith Humphreys, in a blog post at The Washington Monthly, wrote that he was nostalgic for the presidency of George H. W. Bush — “the last president whom you could just casually talk to strangers about. They might like or dislike his policies, but their head would not explode at the mention of his name.” He wonders if that attitude will return as Baby Boomers — with their 1960s culture-war intensity — exit the scene, or if the exploding-head environment is here to stay.

I’m going with Door Number Two, much as it pains me. It is tempting to hope for a leader so charismatic, with such powers of persuasion, that we can move into a less angry, more constructive future. But has that person ever existed on Earth? Even George Washington might have had trouble leading amid armchair tweeters second-guessing his military strategy and making snarky cracks about his teeth.

And it’s not like we are heading into an era of good feeling. We appear to be leaving some cultural battles behind, such as gay marriage, but we may never come to a consensus on abortion and it may be quite a while before the waters calm on immigration or race-related issues. The black cloud of income inequality hangs over all of this, meanwhile, hobbling upward mobility as politicians argue over remedies. Meanwhile, oppression, attacks, beheadings and other barbarities continue in the Middle East.

All of this will afflict the next president, along with the usual banal crossfire endured by chief executives these days (those mom jeans, that selfie, is he demeaning his office? That flight suit, that Mission Accomplished banner, whose idea was that? And shouldn’t fill-in-the-blank play a little less golf, take a little less vacation?). Before you know it we’ll be tired. No matter who wins.

Follow Jill Lawrence on Twitter @JillDLawrence. To find out more about Jill Lawrence and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

41 responses to “Whoever Wins The White House, We’ll Be Tired”

Unfortunately for Democrats, Republicans have learned, a lot faster than we, that winning elections has a lot more to do with perceptions and a cute retort than the record, the truth, or a vision. The Republican party is not the force it is because their record on foreign and domestic policies have contributed to our national security or well being, or because they have offered a vision of the future that augur a better life for our descendents, they remain a viable party because of their ability to destroy the opposition using pseudo scandals or claims that more often than not cannot be substantiated, or are deliberate fabrications to destroy the opposition and deflect attention from their inability to govern. From Fast and Furious, to the IRS scandal, email-gate, to Benghazi, everything they have thrown at us in recent years are either fabrications or examples of desperation that, ironically, should remind us of their failures.

The real question is why are there so many constituents that do not see the GOP for what they are? In my opinion Americas obsession with their own ethnic, racial, religious and social prejudices seems to trump common sense.

I recently asked a friend of mine who says he is a Republican why he supports them and he told me because they were a party that had ideas he liked. He has since changed his mind because the party has changed so much and he now says he is an Independent that will vote for Democrats if he likes the candidate. He tends to lean socially liberal (voting rights, women’s rights, environmental issues, climate change, etc.) but just because he was always a Republican before he was registered that way until now. I think this is happening alot everywhere. People may finally be waking up to the fact that their party has changed and it is not going back to what it used to be. There are stories in the news about high ranking members of the Republican Party that are changing to the Democratic Party because of the way the GOP has changed. You would think that might tell the GOP leaders something but they don’t seem to be listening.

The republican party had nothing to do with Hillary’s problems on emails or donations to their foundations. Tell me how many Secretary of State had their own server where every email went through, where emails were destroyed against the NARA rules and are reused access to that server. Fast and Furious,wrongdoing was proven, IRS is still unfolding after months of the Commissioner of IRS saying the emails of Lerner were destroyed, now we know from the IG report that IT was never asked to find them. Benghazi is also unfolding with the revelation about the Clinton server, requiring her to appear twice more before the committee. Who will subpoena the server and what will they find is the real question. No fabrications!!! Just more delusion on the left.

What do you call the most blatant example of treason in half a century? A frabrication? A delusion? You worry about e-mails, I worry about senior elected officials cooperating with, alleged, terrorists and undermining the credibility of the United States after declaring Iran a hub of terrorism. I have no idea how many former Secretaries of State, or any other government officials, or members of Congress, send and receive personal e-mails. I believe they should use government resources for official communications, but that does not mean they committed a crime. The 47 Republican Senators betrayed the United States. Fast and Furious was a sting operation carried out to determine who was behind the sale of arms to Mexican drug cartels. The rifle with a serial number that could be traced back to the DEA, that was conveniently left behind, was used to discredit a law enforcement agency, and the agents that were risking their lives (one was killed) doing their jobs. The IRS “scandal” involved a U.S. government agency going after right wing organizations that lied in their applications for tax exempt status. When caught, the entire GOP propaganda machine blamed the IRS, instead of the Republican cheaters caught with their fingers in the cookie jar. The only fact associated with the terrorist attack against our consulate in Benghazi, which resulted in the death of 4 Americans, is that it represents a dramatic decline against U.S. diplomatic facilities and a tremendous improvement in our ability to defend the homeland. 9/11 took place when a Republican President was in office and the GOP controlled both chambers of Congress, and 11 U.S. diplomatic facilities were attacked while W was in office. Over 3,100 people were killed during those terrorist attacks. I doubt you, or any other Republican will encourage an investigation to determine if telephone calls, e-mails, or any other type of communication was conducted during and after those tragedies. Along the same lines, I doubt the Republican controlled Congress will call for an investigation, or even a reprimand, for the 47 Senators who after declaring Iran a hub of terrorism, send them a letter telling them not to trust an incumbent U.S. President, and informing them that if that President signs a deal with them to stop the development of nuclear weapons by Iran, the U.S. Congress will not ratify or, as a minimum, the next President will repeal it.

I am not worried about Clinton emails, but the leadership of the democratic party is. Latest pole show Hillary among Democrats has dropped 16 pts already. No other Sec. of State used a private server and had all emails private and governmental go through a private server. Yes, other Secretaries have had private emails but they all went through govt. system/servers. Hillary ignored Obama’s request to use only govt. system for both personal and govt.. 2009 new rules were added but Hillary ignored them all. Every email belongs to the govt. until the govt. reviews with the Secretary those that can be deleted. Foreign Affairs manual, Volume 5, Handbook 4. We don’t know all of Fast and Furious, it took a federal judge order last November to remove Obama’s executive order for over 64,000 redacted pages. More of the lack of Transparency by Obama. As to Benghazi, Obama and Hillary for two weeks claimed it was because of a video, which was an outright lie, proven by the emails between State and WH. She will have to testify. What you want to ignore are Blumenthal’s emails to and from Clinton about Benghazi being hacked.

As to the letter it wasn’t treason, not even close. As I said before I am sorry they sent it to Iran rather than to Obama and media. What is absolutely correct is the content of the letter. Typical selective memory on your part, you seem to forget about 1983 Kennedy and Russian Yuri Andropov or Pelosi and Assad in 2007, Jim Wright and Nicaragua, etc.. You are really naive if you think this is unique, both parties have done it, foreign affairs has always been deeply partisan and challenging when it comes to executive authority. Don’t forgrt Biden’s letter to Bush on Russian missiles.. Also, you can explain why all of a sudden with talks getting closer to dead line and Iran in Iraq fighting ISIS that the latest WORLD WIDE TREAT ASSESSMENT by US intelligence community no longer list Iran and Hezbollah on the state sponsor of terrorism.. Was this a concession to the Iranians by Obama to the ongoing nuclear negotiations?

I have not seen the poll that shows Hillary’s support among Democrats dropping 16 points. Everything I see or read demonstrate solid support among Democrats. She did use poor judgment in not following president Obama’s instructions, and the Department of State instructions, but she did not break any laws. Comparing her decision to previous Secretaries of State is only applicable to the last few, since such technology did not exist a few decades ago. Since nobody bothered to check whether or not recent Secretaries of State used personal e-mail accounts, or non-government servers, such as those used routinely by Republican and Democratic members of Congress, I doubt an accurate and fair assessment can be made as to the scope of this issue. Details of operations associated with intelligence and law enforcement agencies have never been divulged for obvious reasons. Keeping that information under wraps has been the norm, and is the reason President Obama did not make it public, and part of his transparency efforts. The offensive video, which I would not be surprised if it was paid for by Republicans, and released on time to impact the 2012 election, resulted in riots throughout the Islamic world, including Benghazi. I suspect terrorists took advantage of the social unrest to carry out the attack, but that video did play a role. If the GOP knew exactly what happened, why didn’t they come forth and tell everyone? Republican and Democratic members of Congress have participated in negotiations, and as fact finding envoys in the past, and will continue to do it in the future. That’s not what the 47 Republican Senators did. They declared Iran a hub of terrorism, and a few days later they sent the Iranian leadership a letter encouraging them not to trust an incumbent U.S. President, and promising that if such president signed an agreement with them, Congress will not ratify it and the next President will repeal it. ISIS is the result of the removal of Saddam Hussein and members of the Baathist party from power, and their replacement of Shias aligned to Iran. That was among the worst strategic mistakes made by any administration in history, as it de-stabilized the entire Persian Gulf region, and radicalized the Sunni government and military officers that fled Iraq to save their lives. They are back with a vengeance. Iran is helping their Iraqi spiritual brothers because they both share the same religious, geo-political, and economic goals. You can thank W for that. Saddam was the only obstacle to Iranian political and spiritual expansionism. Reagan understood that and provided him with WMDs, weapons, and military intelligence during the Iran-Iraq war. That reality fell on deaf ears when W’s, or more accurately Cheney’s, desire for revenge, economic opportunism, and political imperatives took precedence over long term strategy. No deals have been cut with Iran regarding ISIS, an organization that we, and Western European countries, are also fighting. The delays in signing an agreement have more to do with French demands, and concerns among some factions of the Iranian leadership, exacerbated by the latest GOP stunt, than any deals.

Rasmussen:http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2016/54_think_democrats_should_run_a_fresh_face_in_2016 As other secretaries having servers, you don’t think that Democratic operatives aren’t looking. What you again ignore, we know past secretaries were using Govt. email system for both private and govt. business. Not one private server for both private and govt. Nice try!! You don’t nor do I know at this point if she broke the law. What we do know she illegally deleted govt. documents without approval of NARA, which she has admitted. Benghazi/video being paid for by republicans, what an asinine comment. Obama and Clinton lied about the video has been proven by WH emails

Back to Bush bashing as usual. That’s history, just like Obama with ISIS being J-V, and in Libya, and Yemen, now the need to find solutions which Obama does not have or want.

A contributing factor to former Secretaries of State not using private servers, routers, and security filters may be because they didn’t own any. The Clinton Foundation does, and Hillary took advantage of that fact to, ostensibly, keep her correspondence out of public scrutiny, which was not a very smart decision. I have said before, and I repeat, that in my opinion she used very poor judgment when she did that. However, that does not mean she broke the law or, Heavens forbid, that she committed a Republican style act of treason. The video that offended the sensibilities of Muslims worldwide was not a chimera. It was very real. The making of that video was not an accident. It was a deliberate attempt to offend people we don’t like, and incite violence. It is not too difficult to determine who benefited from its release. Let me make sure I understand your retort regarding the dismal policies that contributed to the creation of ISIS and the destabilization of the Persian Gulf. Are you suggesting that we should ignore the root causes for the mess we are in now, and that we should focus instead on the end result? Yes, Libya and Yemen are a mess, and so is Syria, Iraq, and Somalia.

Your opening sentences aren’t worth a hill of beans. Makes not difference if she had one or not. NARA regulations and Obama’s directive required govt. employees to use the govt.system. She wanted complete control that she is NOT ENTITLED , they are the property of the US Govt. not hers to do with as she please, and that’s a fact. She still doesn’t want to give up control or she would give officials access to the server/servers. You don’t know she hasn’t violated the law, so get off that argument. Give up the server and then we will know. The video excuse was a lie and has such been proven. How many times had it been attacked before, how many countries/groups had pulled of Benghazi? Even Khatallah, “had voiced concern and opposition to the presence of an American facility in Benghazi” court papers show. No, I am not suggesting we ignore the root causes but I am saying this continued harping on the left doesn’t settle the present situation. Obama ignored ISIS calling them J-V, has no plan to destroy them. Time will tell if she runs towards the Presidency or away. To many unanswered questions. Do the democratic party want more Clinton Fatigue during the campaign? Remember, it won’t be your side or mine that determines the election, it will the 20% of independents. Only time will tell.

Mike: She’s given everything to the State Department that they’ve asked for…….some of the laws that you talk about didn’t take affect until AFTER she left office. Secondly, most of her e-mails were sent to individuals on Government servers, so they WERE saved. She’s turned over tons of e-mails to the State Department and has given them everything that they asked for. As for the Benghazi video….if you’d check your facts, you’d know that one of the witnesses of this attack admitted that this particular video WAS the one thing that basically started the attacks….however, it wasn’t the thing that ended them as they did. On the Iran negotiations, I think our president and the leaders of the other 5 countries involved in the negotiations are doing an excellent job of trying to keep us out of a prolonged war…..the American people are tired of war in the Middle East and afraid that we may have to put more “boots on the ground.” This war was started by your wonderful President Bush…..unpaid for and uncalled for! We will be paying for this aftermath of this war for years to come….not only in human lives lost, families destroyed, and individual’s with severe injuries! You may want to look at that….it’s far worse than anything Hillary has done!

Hillary had her own server, which violates Fed. Regulations and NARA. She deleted thousands of emails which is against rules and regulations of NARA. You have no idea all her emails went just to govt. employees. How do you know she has given everything they wanted? If she is so trustworthy and honest, she can give the server to an independent person/organization and prove the critics wrong.

As to war, Hillary voted for it, has never said she was lied to, but it is all Bush’s fault. In 2012 Obama said his goal was to STOP Iran’s nuclear program, 2015 Obama said they can continue.

You may want to look into past Secy of State, Carl Rove…..he had a private e-mail account and most of his State e-mails seemingly have come up “missing.” Interesting…. Also, several other Secretary’s of State used private e-mail accounts prior to Hillary, but the GOP conveniently doesn’t seem to want to mention them! Additionally, Hillary DID save her e-mails on government servers per instructions from President Obama.

Did you really just say Karl Rove was Secretary of State under Bush?? Really!!! First you can’t even spell his name correctly, secondly he was Senior Advisor and Deputy chief of staff, never Sec. of State. Your ignorance again is breathtaking!!! As to emails, this is all moot if she gives up the server, and then the light of day will shine down and we will then know the truth. Until then you don’t know crap on this subject either.

Don’t know what poll you’re looking at because she’s over 15 points or close to it over any other candidate that has said they are running!! She’s so far ahead of all of them that they haven’t got a chance as of today.

Have you tried fact checking…..most every Secretary of State prior to Hillary had their own server and e-mail accounts. Apparently, you don’t read the papers or listen to the news or check your facts before you open your mouth…..try it some time! By the way, you might want to check into Cheney and his cohort ex-president, Bush, about how many of their e-mails went conveniently “missing.” Also, check into the “missing” e-mails from their own secretary of state, Carl Rove!!!

Again, as I’ve said many times before…..the GOP uses lies and scare tactics to polarize their base…..and they will continue to do so. So, as long as their base remains uninformed….they will persist in their tactics! Let’s hope that more of us understand that than not.

To all 2016 contenders to be: Whoever will come up with the message of optimism, inspire, lift up peoples spirit that they will rush to hear her/him speak , is the person who will go and sit in the Oval Office. But if you will come out with the message: “The whole world is on fire”, even kids start to doubt what you are selling, just forget your bid. You won’t see any road paving to the White House.

To all 2016 contenders to be: Whoever will come up with the message of optimism, inspire, lift up peoples spirit that they will rush to hear her/him speak , is the person who will go and sit in the Oval Office. But if you will come out with the message: “The whole world is on fire”, even kids start to doubt what you are selling, just forget your bid. You won’t see any road paving to the White House.

To all 2016 contenders to be: Whoever will come up with the message of optimism, inspire, lift up peoples spirit that they will rush to hear her/him speak , is the person who will go and sit in the Oval Office. But if you will come out with the message: “The whole world is on fire”, even kids start to doubt what you are selling, just forget your bid. You won’t see any road paving to the White House.

To all 2016 contenders to be: Whoever will come up with the message of optimism, inspire, lift up peoples spirit that they will rush to hear her/him speak , is the person who will go and sit in the Oval Office. But if you will come out with the message: “The whole world is on fire”, even kids start to doubt what you are selling, just forget your bid. You won’t see any road paving to the White House.

To all 2016 contenders to be: Whoever will come up with the message of optimism, inspire, lift up peoples spirit that they will rush to hear her/him speak , is the person who will go and sit in the Oval Office. But if you will come out with the message: “The whole world is on fire”, even kids start to doubt what you are selling, just forget your bid. You won’t see any road paving to the White House.

To all 2016 contenders to be: Whoever will come up with the message of optimism, inspire, lift up peoples spirit that they will rush to hear her/him speak , is the person who will go and sit in the Oval Office. But if you will come out with the message: “The whole world is on fire”, even kids start to doubt what you are selling, just forget your bid. You won’t see any road paving to the White House.

It’s not that she is hated, it’s more that she is tiresome. She wears us out with her misdirection plays, her lies, the cloud of distrust and suspicion that is always hovering over her head and Bill’s head. She and her oily husband are old news, and there is always that sense of apprehension about them.

We all know that her motive for seeking the presidency is not to further the greatness of the US, but rather to advance her historical value. No one can point to anything she has ever done in public office that was of benefit to the nation rather than enriching herself.

Unfortunately, Jarhead, she’s not the only one. The GOP candidates lie and change the facts all the time!!! I distrust them a lot more than I do Hillary. The only reason there is distrust and suspicion is because it was put there by the GOP who don’t want to see her elected (but I’ve yet to see a viable GOP candidate showing up so far). Apparently, you’ve been drinking that kool aid!

dpaano… I never wrote or posted that GOP pols never lie or alter facts, did I. This NM article is about Mrs. Clinton, and that is why I commented about Mrs. Clinton and not Rand Paul or Ted Cruz.

The reason there is widespread distrust and suspicion about her since 1992 is because Mrs. Clinton alone worked very hard and diligently to earn this stain on her reputation.

Remember her attempt in 1993 to introduce ClintonCare to America with secret, sessions of Dems held in the WH? It was discovered by John Fund of the WSJ. When confronted with it, she lied and denied meetings ever took place despite other evidence.

Remember her appearance on “The Today Show” in January 1998, when she said the Lewinsky affair was an attempt by “the vast Right Wing conspiracy” to destroy her husband? Remember that one?

Do you recall her comment to reporters in 1995 that her mother named her after Sir Edmund Hillary because he was in 1955 the first person to ever climb to top of Mt. Everest. . Mrs. Clinton was born in 1947….8 full years before Sir Edmund Hillary’s climb. Another lie that she would not retract. She even called her own mother a liar rather than retract her statement.

Remember the Bosnia airport landing where she boldly stated she and Chelsea flew into the airport under rocket fire and hand to dodge sniper fire as they ran for safety in a hanger? Remember that lie?

They go on and on. Mrs. Clinton is a habitual, hardcore liar who will say and do anything to become president. And this is the person you believe will make a good president? Thanks.

And where did you get that analogy? The only people who seem to hate President Obama are the GOP!!! Those of us who know what we’re talking about are pretty happy with his presidency. Maybe you need to check into all the wonderful things that he’s accomplished….could actually surprise you! If he despised this country, we wouldn’t see all these good things, would we?

I have to agree with this…I get tired of getting my mailbox full of useless paper advertising various politicians (I throw them out….BIG waste of paper and their money). I also tend to zone out on TV ads regarding politicians…..I’d rather do my OWN research on the individuals and make my own decision without listening to their self-serving political BS paid for by their rich cronies!!! You have to look at the small print on the bottom to see that these ads are NOT non-partisan in ANY way!!! So, why pay much attention to them because they are all full of BS!!! So, yes, I will be getting overly tired of the campaign unfortunately, and I think many of the American people will be also…..the problem is that some of these people NEED to be informed, but not by these self-serving ads and brochures!!!